Maria Canals

Debuting a couple of weeks after ABC's hyper-marketed "black-ish," "Cristela" has been nudged by many critics (myself included) into a tidy trinity of new shows from the network that deal directly with race. The third is "Fresh Off the Boat," scheduled to launch early next year.

This generalization, however, is not inaccurate: "Cristela" revolves around a multigenerational Mexican American family and does not shy away from pointing out racism and sending up stereotypes. "I may be Mexican, but I'm not deaf" is a typical rejoinder to white characters wondering whether something or other is a "cultural issue."

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Debuting a couple of weeks after ABC's hyper-marketed "black-ish," "Cristela" has been nudged by many critics (myself included) into a tidy trinity of new shows from the network that deal directly with race. The third is "Fresh...